The field of invention is animal feeders, more particularly animal feeders for dry feed material for small animals.
Domesticated and caged animals require feeding at regular intervals. Manually filling a dish with food on a regular basis can be inconvenient and in the case of caged animals may require opening the cage providing the animal with the opportunity to escape or injure the attendant.
Known feeders that accommodate such circumstances are gravity animal feeders. These feeders normally are composed of a hopper in which the feed is stored. An opening in the bottom of the hopper allows feed to flow with the aid of gravity into a dish from which the animal feeds. The hopper can extend outside of a cage for refilling without opening the cage. Such feeders are particularly useful for supplying animals with dry granular or pelletized feed.
Prior feeders of this type tend to have metering gates disposed between the hopper and the dish to prevent too much feed from filling the dish at one time. These gates are often nudged by the feeding animals to a position limiting their usefulness. Additionally, feed can get jammed in the hopper preventing the gravity flow of feed into the dish.
The construction of prior feeders tend to be unduly complicated requiring the assembly of the hopper to the dish portion. In larger gravity feeder used in commercial applications, such as in the fur industry, assembly of the feeders is cumbersome and expensive.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above.